Warning: SPOILERS for Cobra Kai Season 5It’s incredible that in Cobra Kai season 5, Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) not only respects Miyagi-Do, but he even knows the entire history of how the dojo began. Johnny undergoes massive changes in Cobra Kai season 5. Before he joined Daniel LaRusso’s (Ralph Macchio) crusade to stop Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith), Johnny decided to clean up his act in anticipation of he and his girlfriend, Carmen Diaz (Vanessa Rubio), getting pregnant. Lawrence also successfully got his two sons, Robby Keene (Tanner Buchanan) and Miguel Diaz (Xolo Maridueña), to end their rivalry so they can be one, happy blended family.
Johnny spent almost his entire life indoctrinated in the “badass” and “no mercy” philosophy of Cobra Kai karate. Even in the decades after he quit the dojo after The Karate Kid in 1984, Lawrence lived the Cobra Kai mentality, and he brought the dojo back and became a sensei in Cobra Kai season 1. After he left Cobra Kai and started Eagle Fang Karate, Johnny’s dojo was still the opposite of the defensive style Daniel learned from his sensei, Mr. Miyagi (Noriyuki “Pat” Morita), and taught at Miyagi-Do. In Cobra Kai season 4, Daniel and Johnny couldn’t blend their opposing styles and even came to blows. But Johnny also began to learn about Miyagi-Do, the style that he lost to at the All Valley Under 18 Karate Tournament back in 1984. To Johnny, Miyagi-Do was just the “illegal” crane kick LaRusso used on him. Hilariously, Johnny used one of Miyagi-Do’s tenets – “No be there” – to turn the tables on Daniel when LaRusso ended up in a fight against a hockey team.
In Cobra Kai season 5, Johnny showed that he’s now a master of Miyagi-Do history when Gunther Braun (Carsten Noorgard) and the representatives from the Sekai Taikai toured Daniel’s dojo. As LaRusso tried to explain Miyagi-Do’s backstory, Johnny took over with the full history of how the dojo began: “Shrimp Sensei. Loved fishing. Loved sake bombs. One day, strong winds, strong sake. No fish…” Daniel then interrupted Johnny, but the remarkable point was made that Lawrence knows the entire backstory of Miyagi-Do as Mr. Miyagi once taught it to Daniel-san verbatim. Of course, Johnny hilariously warped part of the story so that in his telling, Shrimpo Sensei loved “sake bombs.”
Johnny Respecting Miyagi-Do Is His Best Change
Johnny developing genuine respect and admiration for Miyagi-Do is his biggest breakthrough. Sensei Lawrence is eternally a “badass” first, but he has lifelong experience with how effective and positive Miyagi-Do can be. This includes Johnny finally realizing that LaRusso is “all right” and accepting that they are actually friends. Meanwhile, Johnny also can’t help but see the beneficial impact Miyagi-Do has had on his students. Daniel’s daughter, Samantha LaRusso (Mary Mouser) took to Eagle Fang’s offense-based style like a duck to water, but it was combining Johnny and Daniel’s styles that took her all the way to the All Valley Championship final, which Sam would have won had Terry Silver not bribed the referee in favor of Tory Nichols (Peyton List) getting the duke.
Thanks to their mutual love of Rocky IV, Johnny was able to impress Gunther Braun and the Sekai Taikai, but Rocky Balboa’s (Sylvester Stallone) victory speech – “If I can change, and you can change, everybody can change!” – really applies to Johnny. Lawrence has come a long way as a father, as a person, and as a sensei in Cobra Kai by embracing the style of his rival and extolling Miyagi-Do’s history and virtues. He even wanted his and Daniel’s combined dojo to be known simply as “Miyagi-Do” to the Sekai Taikai. Johnny never got to know Mr. Miyagi but, in his own way, Sensei Lawrence has become a remarkable booster and ambassador for Miyagi-Do Karate.
Cobra Kai Season 5 is streaming on Netflix.
